Rudolf Arnheim's contribution to Gestalt psychology.

Gestalt psychology was the foundation of Rudolf Arnheim's approach to art. Reviewing Arnheim's long and productive career, it becomes useful to assess his relationship to the evolving theory. By paying special attention to the issues of (1) perceptual abstraction and visual thinking, (2) perceptual dynamics and expression, and (3) perceptual "goodness" and beauty, it can be seen the degree to which Arnheim actually altered the basis of the general theory of Gestalt psychology, affirming the centrality of art in its purview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology in the Public Forum: Alcoholism--Introduction and Overview.

Introduces this month's "Psychology in the Public Forum" section, which is devoted to alcoholism in the effort to spotlight contributions by psychologists to enhanced understanding of alcoholism and the alcoholic. They have been asked to contribute to this issue of the American Psychologist because their work has been influential in altering unhelpful views on alcoholism, offering a new and clearer picture of the determinants of alcoholism, or developing approaches to more efficacious therapeutic management of the alcoholic. All are activities in which the contributions of psychologists have been important. There are nine articles in this edition of "Psychology in the Public Forum." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Robert Stanton Nichols (1929-2005).

Presents an obituary for Robert Stanton Nichols, an advocate of military psychology who worked tirelessly to improve working conditions for military personnel and their families. Nichols spearheaded efforts to convince the APA Council to honor the uniformed psychologists who made contributions during the Vietnam conflict several decades earlier. He was a fellow in APA Divisions 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology), 19 (Society for Military Psychology), and 48 (Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"White culture, Jewish culture, and the origins of psychotherapy": Comment.

Comments on an article by Peter F. Langman (see record 1997-07117-012) on the subject of white and Jewish origins of psychotherapy. Mintz points out a few historical inaccuracies in Langman's article regarding the developers of Gestalt Psychology and Gestalt Therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial.

This editorial introduces the current issue of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (JTPP). It focuses on a new section developed for short discussion articles in JTPP. This new section includes short articles on critical thinking in psychology. The discussion articles in this issue are based on a symposium that was held in 2010 at the APA convention in San Diego. The symposium included contradictory voices regarding the notions of critical thinking in psychology and on the philosophical underpinnings of this competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of a category system of good moments in Gestalt therapy.

10 nonmutually exclusive categories of good moments (i.e., client behaviors or processes represented as therapeutically valuable or desirable) developed from a review of the Gestalt literature were used to rate 458 verbal behaviors of clients drawn from 4 therapy sessions with well known Gestalt therapists. Agreement levels among judges (2 male clinical psychologists and 2 female senior PhD students in clinical psychology) ranged from acceptable to very high for 8 of the individual categories. Analyses of co-occurrences indicated that most categories included in the computations tapped separate dimensions of client behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Telephone Directory Advertising: Who is a Psychologist?

In the April 1979 issue of Professional Psychology, Lawrence Annis presented an article concerning the issue of psychologists advertising in telephone directories. He then related his survey results of phone books to the American Psychological Association's (APA) policies regarding guidelines for telephone listings (APA, 1969) and Ethical Standards of Psychologists (APA, 1977). The most frequent violation was the use of boldface type. The results of Annis' are provocative and raise questions about our colleagues' knowledge and application of ethical standards. Of greater concern, however, are the results of our survey that showed that 12% to 25% of people listed under "psychologist" in the Yellow Pages were not psychologists. In connection with our activities in the clinical section of the Illinois Psychological Association, we examined two local phone books and identified the names of people listed as psychologists in the Yellow Pages. Our purpose was to verify how many of those listed as psychologists were legally registered according to the Illinois Psychologist Registration Act (Illinois Revised Statute 1975). The results showed that 12% of the individuals listed in one book and 25% listed in the second book were not psychologists. The majority of individuals who were found in violation were master's level individuals, who were not registered. The remainder were social workers or individuals with doctoral degrees in disciplines other than psychology, such as theology. In one case a psychiatrist was listed. A representative at the phone company was contacted and informed of the state law. He said it is not their responsibility, and he referred us to the publisher of the phone books. The publisher took the position that implementation and enforcement of the Registration Act was not the publisher's responsibility, that this was the government's duty, and that the publisher feared possible legal action for mistakenly withholding a person's advertisement. Those individuals who are not registered and list themselves as psychologists are engaging in unethical and illegal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial note.

This editorial discusses the current issue of Psychoanalytic Psychology. This issue introduces a new section entitled Commentary. This section is reserved for reader response to articles published in the Journal. The Editorial Board believes that this section might enhance communication among colleagues differing in their views regarding theory and clinical phenomena in psychoanalysis and that it might facilitate increased appreciation of diverse approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emory L. Cowen.

Presents an overview of the career contributions of Emory L. Cowen. For his remarkable contributions to conceptual, empirical and human service advances in the fields of community and clinical psychology, community mental health and education. He has been instrumental in the creation of a field for an entire generation of psychologists. His work has changed public schools throughout the United States. His ideas, research, model programs, program evaluations, and workshops have inspired others to generate new programs that provide affordable human services to thousands of children who are otherwise unlikely to receive help. He pioneered early detection and secondary prevention research. His clear thinking and conceptual challenges have fostered the study of primary prevention and wellness in mental health, both as a field for research and as a social policy. His tireless efforts as President of APA's Division of Community Psychology, a member of the Prevention Task Panel of the President's Commission on Mental Health, and the APA Task Force on Promotion, Prevention and Intervention Alternatives in Psychology are examples of his energetic contributions to psychology in the public interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for Distinguished Professional Contributions: Jack G. Wiggins.

Discusses the contributions made by Jack G. Wiggins, one of four 1997 recipients of the American Psychological Association (APA) Awards for Distinguished Professional Contributions. Wiggins is recognized for his contributions to defining the professional practice of psychology as a health service profession, thereby assuring that consumers benefit from the contributions that professional psychologists make to their welfare. Wiggins was a founder of psychology's first advocacy association, the Council for the Advancement of the Psychological Professions and Sciences, and continued his leadership in this area with its successor organization, the Association for the Advancement of Psychology. He was instrumental in the founding of the American Psychological Association College of Professional Psychology and was a developer of the professional psychology school in Ohio. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

External psychologists: Best solution for some agencies?

Discusses the effective use of external (outside the agency) psychologists, with emphasis on general problems of psychologist–institution interaction. Examples of how these problems have been managed within one large childcare institution are presented, suggestions regarding how other institutions might better employ their own external psychologists are made, and drawbacks to psychological services being offered by external psychologists on a contractual basis are identified. (11 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA and (AP)–2.

Psychology developed 100 yrs ago as a laboratory "science," and there was no real interest in application until World War I. After World War I, psychology became more applied, but after World War II it exploded as clinical psychology. Clinical psychologists sought a professional society in the state psychological associations and eventually gained the support of the American Psychological Association (APA). The author emphasizes that, although basic and applied training procedures parallel the medical model, clinical psychologists are not junior psychiatrists and that they make a unique contribution because of their training in research and statistics. The author further states that their contributions should be supported by all psychologists for the benefit of everyone, including academic psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Editorial introduction.

This is a Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Psychology devoted to research utilizing human evoked potentials. It is a technique that is increasingly relevant to the interests of psychologists working in traditional areas of human experimental psychology - perception, attention, and memory. The selection of papers in this issue represents current thinking on both fronts, and although far from exhaustive, it should give the reader a basis for judging the current status of work in this field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mary Henle (1913-2007).

An uncompromising advocate of academic rigor, and the last surviving second-generation Gestalt theorist, Mary Henle maintained the highest academic standards during a long career that was an inspiration to many of her colleagues. Her frequently cited publications are models of clear thinking and clear writing. She served as president of the Eastern Psychological Association (1981-1982) and of Divisions 24 (Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 1974-1975) and 26 (History of Psychology, 1971-1972) of the American Psychological Association (APA). She also served on such boards and committees as the APA Insurance Trust and made many presentations of carefully crafted papers at psychology conventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Report of the Task Force on the Role of Psychology in the Criminal Justice System.

The American Psychological Association's Board of Social and Ethical Responsibility for Psychology (BSERP) commissioned a Task Force on the Role of Psychology in the Criminal Justice System to examine the ethical dilemmas faced by psychologists working with police, court, correctional, and juvenile justice agencies. In this final report, the task force makes 10 recommendations regarding the ethical practice of psychology in these areas. Both ethical issues that the criminal justice system creates for psychologists and those that psychologists create for the criminal justice system are addressed. Under the former are issues relating to the psychologist's loyalty (e.g., confidentiality) and competence (e.g., the effectiveness of services). The most controversial issue faced by the criminal justice system is the use of psychologists as decision makers in the confinement and release of individual offenders (e.g., indeterminate sentences). (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A critical reflection on Arnheim's Gestalt theory of aesthetics.

Rudolf Arnheim applied the fundamental principles of Gestalt psychology to the creation and appreciation of film and art. These principles emphasize the primacy of structured perception and the spontaneous experience of emotional expression. The interplay of compositional "forces" creates a sense of tension in the overall structure of an artwork. Viewers spontaneously experience these effects but must learn that aesthetic "seeing" proceeds from the broadest overall pattern to individual features. The metaphorical meaning in a painting emerges when its subject matter is experienced in the context of its expressive structure. By way of critical commentary, it is proposed that metaphorical concepts like "forces" and "fields" should not be taken too literally lest they become reified. The focus should be placed on the dynamic effects of compositional contrasts and resulting tensions rather than on abstract "forces." With these ideas in mind, expressive structure in painting is explored in terms of complementary relations between two-dimensional surface and three-dimensional illusionist spaces. Following in Arnheim's didactic tradition, these ideas are examined in relation to a specific artwork through a discussion with the artist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and public service.

Psychology has a special opportunity to contribute to the public interest, because the training of psychologists makes them well suited for this role. After briefly stating some reasons why public service is difficult for psychologists, the author reviews why psychologists' training prepares them to assume public service responsibilities: crossover skills include applying their body of knowledge in different settings, identifying relevant questions and translating principles into language the public can understand, integrating and combining ideas that seem disconnected at first glance, balancing different approaches and acting despite multiple and complex perspectives, and establishing and maintaining a level of excellence, even when standards are unclear. The author reviews how these principles have been imbedded in his psychology training and experiences and also discusses the important mentors who taught him how to apply these principles. Psychologists can make important contributions in the public domain if they set high standards and are persistent in their pursuit of them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive psychology and social change.

E. E. Sampson's (see record 1982-04617-001) charges that the cognitive perspective denies reality, depicts mental acrobatics as substituting for effective action, and necessarily serves the existing social order can only be made by selectively ignoring the contributions of the Gestalt psychologists and of other prominent proponents of the cognitive perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Guest editor's overview.

Editorial emphasizes the the degree to which the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 have relevance to psychologists in terms of their practice, research, and training. As mentioned by Robert Pollard in the preface to this special issue, this is one of two companion special issues on the ADA which are being published simultaneously by Rehabilitation Psychology and Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. In these issues, the significance of the ADA to psychologists in such areas as assessment, reasonable accommodation considerations with special populations, new consulting opportunities, and training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions.

Questions whether psychologists within specializations other than experimental, comparative and physiological, and personality and social psychology make scientific contributions that merit major recognition by American Psychological Association awards, and why these psychologists rarely are honored by Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions or Awards for an Early Career Contribution in Psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)